Statistics
Days: 44. We arrived in Vietnam on April 28 and departed on June 10.
Cities: 6. Hà Nội, Huế, Hội An, Đà Nẵng, Đà Lạt, and Hồ Chí Minh City.
Apartment Rentals: 2. We had an AirBNB rental in Hanoi and then rented a studio apartment through a real estate agency for a month in Hoi An.
Hotels/Hostels: 5. We stayed at: Hue Boutique Homestay in Hue, Little House Homestay in Hoi An, Da Nang Backpackers Hostel in Da Nang, Tay Backpackers Hostel in Da Lat, and Saigon Inn in Ho Chi Minh City.
Modes of Transportation: 7. Taxi, Uber, public bus, train, walking, scooter, tour van.
The best part about our stay at the Saigon Inn? Home-cooked, made-to-order breakfast every morning by the super friendly owners!
Q&A
What was your favorite site or place that you visited?
J: It was the half-day tour that we took in Da Lat, where we visited a coffee plantation, saw a waterfall, got to walk through a temple, and went to an insect farm. I got to try coffee made from weasel poop, which was very fun!
L: Surprisingly, I loved Saigon. I didn’t expect to like it so much, especially after six weeks of traveling through Vietnam, but it was a great city. I’m not sure what it was about the city but I felt very comfortable there!
What was the biggest surprise you had during this time?
J: It was surprising that a majority of the people seemed unfriendly to us. There were a lot of people that we met who were really nice and helped us out, but overall, it seemed like nobody wanted us there. Another surprising thing was how modern Ho Chi Minh City was and how much it seemed like any other big city around the world. That was surprising since many of the other cities that we visited in Asia still felt like they were older and didn’t have that modern feel. Ho Chi Minh City felt like we were in any other big city.
L: How much I loved all of the food! While I had a few dishes that I loved in Thailand and Cambodia, I usually don’t rave about any type of Asian cuisine. However, I really liked trying all of the regional and local dishes across the country. Vietnam also has amazing bread, being a former French colony, so I was pretty excited about that!
We were surprised at how modern Saigon was, unlike some of the other cities we visited.
What was the lowest point for this part of the trip?
J: Falling off our scooter – we got into a crash on our way back from visiting My Son in the countryside outside of Hoi An. We both had some scrapes and bruises, but luckily neither of us were hurt very badly. It shook us up and was not a good way to end our time in Hoi An.
L: We both realized about halfway through that neither of us loved Vietnam. It was the most difficult country to travel that we had ever been in before and didn’t feel as welcome as we had everywhere else around the world. We both had moments where we snapped and yelled at one another and we had many days where we didn’t even want to go out to do anything since it was so difficult.
What was your favorite food or meal that you had?
J: I really liked the Bun Cha that we ate, sitting at a small, dirty restaurant on the cathedral square in Hanoi. I also enjoyed eating bahn mi everywhere we went. Even though it’s the same sandwich, each place makes it a little bit different. That was a cheap, filling, and tasty meal that we could count on no matter where we went in Vietnam. However, my favorite thing that I had was the weasel poop coffee in Da Lat. That was the best coffee that I have ever had and it was fun to see the weasels and drink it overlooking the fields of coffee plants.
L: This is easy – Bun Cha in Hanoi! My mouth waters just thinking about this meal!
We ate bahn mi in ever city we visited; it was a cheap, quick, and filling meal – as well as being tasty!
What would you change if you were to do it again?
J: I wouldn’t have spent as much time in Vietnam as we did. Since we didn’t like it as much as we expected, I would have rather spent more time in other countries in southeast Asia.
L: I would have spent six weeks in Cambodia and two weeks in Vietnam, instead of the reverse. Or, added another country like Laos to the mix. Ultimately, six weeks was too long for us in Vietnam but we were kind of stuck with our tickets back to the USA already booked. That being said, I thought our route through the country was perfect – a good mix of big cities and smaller towns.
What advice would you give someone doing a similar trip and route?
J: If you’re going for an extended period of time, it was worthwhile to rent an apartment. It was nice to have a home where we could retreat and relax, cooking our own food. It was also worth going out of the way to visit some of the smaller and lesser-known temples and sites. While they aren’t as popular, they all have their own unique characteristics that make it fun to visit. There is a lot of history in the country and it was interesting to learn about things that we weren’t taught in schools in the US.
L: Go with an open mind but don’t beat yourself up if you don’t love it. I struggled with this, really wanting to fall in love with Vietnam, but it never happened. I’m OK with it now and have accepted that I don’t need to love every country or city that I visit, but it was hard for me while I was there. That being said, I do know people who love Vietnam and visit over and over! While you can listen to what other people think about a place, you will never really know until you experience it for yourself. This advice is pretty generic and can apply to any destination, but it really hit home for me in Vietnam.
Marble Mountains wasn’t something we had heard about before we arrived in Hoi An. Once we did, we knew we wanted to visit!
What is the best memory that you’ll carry with you?
J: Going to the International Fireworks Festival in Da Nang. We both love fireworks, and getting caught in a rainstorm just added to the excitement of the evening.
L: Two stand out in my mind: first was drinking weasel poop coffee in the mountains outside of Da Lat and the second was our last night in Saigon having drinks at a rooftop bar. Jon loves coffee and we ordered two different types made from weasel poop to try at the coffee plantation. Sitting on the balcony looking out over fields of coffee plants was a fun and unique memory that I’ll always remember. For our last night, we wanted to do something special so went to a rooftop bar overlooking the city. We ordered wine and a cocktail (neither of which we had drank in quite a long time!) and watched the sun set over the city. Halfway through, the skies opened up, so we ran inside and finished our drinks on a cozy couch where we could look out the windows.
For our last night, we treated ourselves to cocktails at a rooftop bar while watching the sunset.
Want to read more?
Read about our time in Vietnam…
- Discovering Bun Cha in Hanoi
- Taking a walking tour of Hue
- Getting settled for a month in Hoi An
- Visiting a farm on a Typical Tuesday
- Exploring Hoi An and the surrounding area
- Attending a fireworks festival in Da Nang
- Going crazy in Da Lat
- Getting to know Saigon
- Eating our way across Vietnam
*Note: The use of accent marks is inconsistent for a reason. I found it easier to refer to the cities by the Anglicized version, since this is what most of you will recognize. For the lesser-known places, food, or people, I’ve kept with the accent marks since this is what we got used to while traveling.